Ambulance cot



Jan. 7, 1930. FL 1,742,309

AMBULANCE COT Filed April 26. 1928 2 Sheets$heet 1 Jan. 7, 1930. FLANAGAN 1,742,309

AMBULANCE COT Filed April 26. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gwuentot Patented Jan. 7. .1930

snow I. run-Assn, or maw HAVEN, commences AMBULANCE cor Application filed r m as, 1928. Serial in. 273,042.

My invention relates to ambulance cots, and

more particularly to cots or'stretchers for.

ambulances in which means are provided for supporting the cots or stretchers in an elevated horizontal position. when carried therein.

Generally speaking, the invention relates to that form of a cot or stretcher for ambulances in which legsor other means are provided for supporting the cot, the legs at one end, preferably the head of the cot, being relatively short in order that the cot may not have to be raised much above the floor of the ambulance in placing it inthe ambulance," the latter being provided with an inclined track on which the legs may rest, the track bein inclined upwardly towards the front of the ambulance, so that as the cot or stretcher is inserted into the ambulance, the ac same becomes elevated above the floor. The foot of the cot is provided with relatively long legs, so that when the cot is fully inserted into the ambulance it rests in the substantially horizontal position with the patient at a substantial distance above the floor.

While cots of this type are of great convenience in placing patients in an ambulance,

' they present the difiiculty that the legs at one end are shorter than those at the other to requiring that the head of the cot be supported by an attendant when out of the ambulance in order that the body of the patient maybe kept horizontal.

llt is an object of the present invention to provide a cot or stretcher which, while presenting the. ease of the usual cot in being placed in an ambulance, is provided with a supporting means by which the cot may be supported in a substantially horizontal po- 4 sition when withdrawn from the ambulance.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cot having the above characteristics in which the cot may be supported in a sub stantially horizontal position,either on an inclined way or on a horizontal support.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a plurality of supporting means on a cot which may be used-at will and which do not interfere with one another.

In a more specific aspect, the invention conrollers 21 mounted on rod-22 exten templates a cot having a foldable supporting element which may be readily brought into use when occasion demands. 7

To these and other ends, the invention con- .sists in the novel features and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

- In the drawings, V

Fig. 1 shows a cot according to my invention supported in an ambulance body, the

latter being shown in a diagrammatic mannerr Fig. 2 is an end view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along line 33'of Fig. 2, but partly broken away;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the head of the cot, the remaining parts being'broken away; I

' Fig. 5 is a view of the cot withdrawn'from' the ambulance and resting on a horizontal sup ort; and

Flllig. 6 is a sectional view along line 6-6 of 1g. 5. I Referring now to the drawings in whichI have illustrated my invention by showing a preferred embodiment thereof, the reference numeral j indicates in general the body of an ambulance or the like, the ambulance being shown in a somewhat diagrammatic manner in the drawings, and including aflpor 8,- inclined guideways 9 which rest on' and are attached to the floor 8 at the rear 10 of the ambulance and are providedwith upwardly inclined forward ends 11 which are'supported from floor 8 in any suitable manner,'as, for example, by-means of straps 12 and 13.

The reference numeral 14 indicates, in general my improved cot which comprises a body 15 which is provided with a hinged head-rest 16 which may be elevated to a plurality of positions by means of pawls, one pawl only being shown, it being readily understood that there are two of these pawls, one at either side of the head-rest, pawls, 17 engaging a rod 18 which extends transversely of the cot body 15 and is supported inoppositely disposed short legs 19, which are braced b means of straps 20 and are provided wit transversely of the cot and supported in egs 19.

At the opposite end of cot body 15am :1. pair straps 24 and supported on rollers 25 mounted on transversely extending rod 26. As is usugui eway wit a1, a pad 27 is supported on an upper part of the cot body 15.

The manner of use of the cot and ambulance described above will be readil understood and may be briefly describe as follows: When it is desired to insert the cot into the amulance, the cot is elevated in a, horizontal position until the short legs may be placed on the uideways at the rear end of the vehicle, w ereupon the cot may be pushed into the ambulance body, the attendant supporting the outer end of the cot raising that end as the front end of the cot mountsthe inclined way, so that when the cot is fully inserted intothe ambulance body, the lon legs ma rest on the rear end of the the cot in a substantially horizontal position. I

When a cot of this ty e is not carried on the guideways'of the am ulance, it is necessary for an attendant to support the end havin the short legs, since otherwise this end 0 the cot would be so low as not only to place the patient in an uncomfortable but often in a dangerous position. To the end that the cot ma be supported outside the ambulance in a horizontal position, the improved cot of the present invention is provided with means for supporting the head of the cotat the same distance from the floor, or other horizontal support, asthe foot of the cot. As a suitable and preferred means for this purpose, legs 28 and 29 are provided and pivotally supported on opposite sides of cot body 15 near the head of the cot, legs 28 and 29 being interbraced by means of straps 30 and 31 and provided with castors 32 and 33, respectively. Pivotally supported -on legs 28 and 29, near the lower ends thereof, are links 34 and 35, the opposite ends of links 34 and 35 bein supported from holes 36 and 37 in the cot b0 y 15 by means of jointed pins 38 and 39, one art of each pin being secured in its respectlve link and the hinged ends 40 and 41 thereof being adapted to prevent accidental dislodgment of the pins from the holes in which they may be placed. As shown in the drawings, the-hinged ends 40 and 41 normally hang downwardly and in this position form T-heads for the ins. At the rear end of the ambulance bo y an L- shaped plate .42 is secured to the floor 8 by suitable means, as, for example, bolts 43, plate 42 having an arm 44 which engages either of rods 22 and 26 to hold the cot against movement outwardly of the ambulance body.

When my improved cot is carried in the ambulance body the auxiliar supporting means or legs 28 and 29 are folded up underneath the cot body, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawingsythe pins 38 and 39 being carried in the holes 37. When the cot is withdrawn sary to withdraw the pins from holes 36 and insert them into holes 37 whereupon the auxiliary supporting means is folded up out of the way and the cot may be inserted into the ambulance without interference by this auxiliary supporting means. If desired, the long legs and the auxiliary supporting means or 1e s may be of such a length that the bottom 0 the short legs is at the same height as the floor of the ambulance body, whereupon it is simply necessary to roll the cot over to the ambulance body and raise it sufiiciently to clear the arm on L-shaped plate 42, whereupon the auxiliary sup orting means or legs 28 and 29 may be fol ed up under the cot body, and the cot inserted into the ambulance.

From the above description of the nature of my invention and its mode of operation, it will be readily understood that I have provided an ambulance cot or the like, on which a patient may be moved about. and placed in an ambulance more readil and with less danger than is the case wit the usual form of cots.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same is not to be limited to all the details shown but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. In a cot or the'like, a cot body, a pair of relatively long legs at one'end of the body,-a pair of relativel short legs at the other end of the body an a pair of legs at an intermediate point in the cot body, said last named stantially horizontal position on the guideway, and means for supporting the cot body in a horizontal position on a horizontal support, said means comprising a plurality of legs for said cot, certain of said legs being of equal length and the remaining egs being relatively shorter, the legs of equal length being disposed on the cot body at one end thereof, and at an intermediate oint and the short legs being at the other en of the cot.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 18th day of April, 1928.

' THOMAS J. FLANAGAN. 

